We survived! 
We arrived at the campground in a favorite park of ours, Lava Beds national monument. Very remote, No roads, etc for dozens of miles in many directions. After dinner, we decided we would run off to Heppe Cave, a 4 mile bike ride and half mile trail, but figured we would just have enough time. We traveled into the cave, which had three large 30' - 50' ground openings, connected by 300' caves. After getting to the last opening, we found we could easily get back up, and decided to take an overland shortcut back to the trail. It turned out the ground cover was different in this area, and we had trouble seeing far, and getting through the thick 10' bushes. After going a bit and searching around for the giant (we thought un-missable) cave openings, we started worrying as it was getting dark. Loose lava rock, spiny bushes, and thick bushes forced redirection, making it impossible to keep a proper unchecked heading. We tried to head back to find the end of the cave, and failed. We discussed the only nearby road which was running north and south about a half mile away. We figured safest bet would be to head due east asap while the sun was setting. We rushed forward. Unfortunately it was very cloudy, and difficult to tell the proper sunset direction. The ground cover continued to get more difficult. After an hour of rushed, pained bushwhacking, the sun fully set and we could no longer deduce a proper heading... Fighting any worry we decided since we had hooded sweatshirts and flashlights, the best bet would be to stay put until the, hopefully cloudless, sunrise showed us proper East. We were foodless, waterless and fireless so were slightly limited in options. There was some wind, so we looked for low ground with good bush cover, and dug in a bed, preparing for the 30ish degree night. We lay there conserving heat and energy for a long couple hours.... . . . . I was getting sore and decided to go for a walk around the area within shout distance. After coming upon a clearing I discovered the clouds nearly fully clearing. Located the big dipper, and started trying to recall the north star bit.. Which part of the big dipper points to it? I yelled for Miranda to join me. We both thought the front of the spoon pointed to it. She also believed she remembered that the north star is a part of the little dipper. We eventually found the harder-to-identify uglier little dipper. However there was a far brighter star (possibly planet) but 120degrees opposite of the proposed (pretty dim) north star, this caused us to doubt our astronomy. We decided that even if we were going off the wrong star and the bright one was correct, the only result would be us heading north instead of East. this would only send us along the road and negligibly off course. So, we decided to hike for 40minutes Heading Directly east via the north star. We trotted on, luckily more clear ground now. After 10 short minutes, we came upon the road, each went a different way, I found our bikes a quarter mile down, and biked carrying Miranda's back to her, We got home 25 minutes later happier to be in a comfy bed than in a very long time. We survived! So, we now, will never forget, the big dipper front of spoon does point at north star, North star is reliable navigation, and always bring a fire starting method ANYWHERE ;)

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Goat Mountain 
Yesterday, we woke up and headed for the trailhead, which was up a road that we had already driven up and knew about. The hope was that while we were hiking, we would get the battery charged back up, so we parked in a spot where we hoped the sun would stay out and not be blocked by the trees.

The hike was 3.2 miles with a 2900 foot gain in elevation. The first couple miles were absolutely gorgeous. The forest floor was covered in needles from the pine trees and the trail continually switched back up the mountain, but didn't get too steep, for the most part. Once we started getting higher, it felt like we were walking through a jungle. There were trees a bit off the trail, but mostly smaller ones, and the sides of the trail were very overgrown, enough so that they practically covered the trail. When we finally got out of that, we started heading up a steep slope. We finally got to the top and noticed a group sitting there, so went over to chat. They were with the forest service and were up there to work on a section of the trail. They claimed the trail kept going, so we headed off.

We kept hiking up the mountain, crossing snow, until we got to a steep slope. We could see the trail up the slope, so kept heading up. A section of the trail was washed out from a mudslide. We scrambled up to the next section of trail and kept going. There was another section that was washed out! We decided to just call it good from there. That's the point where I took the first photo. It was super steep! We walked down the trail until we got to where it was washed out again, then went straight down the mountainside to the lower trail and kept going from there.

We eventually learned that the technical end of the trail was the lookout where we saw the group of forest service workers. Though on our walk down, they were working on one of the steep sections of trail. It was a huge mud pit. I just about fell in trying to balance on the rocks they were putting there. They were working on diverting the water off the trail and putting rocks on the trail.

We made it back and the RV was in the shade... Of course. We did get enough power for another day or so though, so we headed back to where we stayed for those couple days earlier in the week. The cats were happy to get to go out again.

This morning, we heard thunder, so knew a storm was probably coming. We got everything packed up in case we had to leave, but let the cats run around outside still. Now it is pouring and poor Curly and Pickles are under the RV because they're too afraid to get in the RV. Once the rain lets up a little again I think I'll try to get them again.

-Miranda


The top of the hike.

Joe in a very cool looking tree along the side of the road.

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Apostle Islands Camping 
Joe, Sarah (a friend of Joe's) and I all went camping on the mainland of the Apostle Islands from Thursday to Friday. The weather on Friday was pretty much perfect. A nice temperature to not get too hot, but not get too cold either. Parts of the trail were very muddy though. The campsite is a 4.5 mile (so they say) hike from the parking lot. Unfortunately, it's a lot of up and down, but it was still fun. We reached the campsite around 4:30 and started working on dinner. It was really windy by the lake, so that was chilly. After dinner we hung out in the tent and played Bananagrams.

The only sleeping bag Sarah had was one only rated for 55 degrees.... Needless to say, it was colder than that. Joe kindly gave her his sleeping bag and he slept in hers. He was pretty cold most of the night.

We woke up to a chilly, cloudy morning. It got a little better as the trail moved away from the lake some. I got a few blisters on my feet the first day, but mole skin really helped that for the hike back. When we got to the swampy section (last half mile or so) it got hot! It was so weird. You could definitely tell when the breeze was coming from inland or from the lake. The inland breeze did not help one bit.

I can't speak for Sarah, but Joe and I are definitely sore.

-Miranda



Our packs during our rest.

Sarah and I hanging out before heading out again.

Ice still hanging on to the edge of the sea caves.

The three of us on our last leg of the hike.

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Sea/Ice Caves 
Yesterday Joe's friend, Scott, and Scott's cousin, Adam came out and we all went to Meyer's Beach to walk to the Sea Caves. I've never been out there in winter. There was a lot of really neat things. I, being an idiot, forgot my camera. So no pictures. :( Sorry. We did walk about 7-8 miles. So, that was quite a walk, and there were tons of people there, but it was still neat.

-Miranda

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Sequoia National Park 
We drove to Sequoia National Park and went to see the second largest tree in the world, General Grant. We then decided to head to the Redwood Mountain Grove which has many large trees. Unfortunately, there were 2 hiking loops that were both 6 miles long. We chose one that looked interesting and took that not really expecting to do the entire loop. We saw some huge stumps from an old logging camp, the Hart Tree, which is one of the largest sequoias, and Fallen Goliath, which was a huge sequoia that feel down a long time ago. I assume at least a couple hundred years ago. We did end up doing the entire loop which was a bit painful after our many miles from the last couple days. However, we did get to see a momma Black Bear and her three cubs. They were across a creek from the trail we were on which was nice. I felt no need to meet one on the trail.
-Miranda

CLICK FOR VIDEO:Hart Tree


General Grant. This tree is about 40 feet in diameter and the second largest tree in the world (by volume).

A very large stump from when a logging camp was there many years ago.

A large, dead, burned out sequoia.

There were places were there would be a number of large sequoias near each other. This is part of the trail. Joe and I were basically in the middle of the triangle (so the tree on the left is actually slightly in front of us)

Toan and I standing near the roots on the Fallen Goliath.


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